Editing Triode (section)

== Applications ==
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2012}}


Although S.G. Brown's Type G Telephone Relay (using a magnetic "earphone" mechanism driving a carbon microphone element) was able to give power amplification and had been in use as early as 1914, it was a purely mechanical device with limited frequency range and fidelity. It was suited only to a limited range of audio frequencies - essentially voice frequencies.<ref>Tyne, Gerald F.J., Saga of the Vacuum Tube, 1977, Howard W. Sams, pp 201~202</ref>

The triode was the first non-mechanical device to provide power gain at audio and radio frequencies, and made [[radio]] practical. Triodes are used for [[amplifier]]s and [[Oscillator (electronics)|oscillators]]. Many types are used only at low to moderate frequency and power levels. Large water-cooled triodes may be used as the final amplifier in radio transmitters, with ratings of thousands of watts. Specialized types of triode ("lighthouse" tubes, with low capacitance between elements) provide useful gain at microwave frequencies.

Vacuum tubes are obsolete in mass-marketed [[consumer electronics]], having been overtaken by less expensive transistor-based [[Solid-state (electronics)|solid-state]] devices. However, more recently, vacuum tubes have been making somewhat of a comeback. Triodes continue to be used in certain high-power [[Radio frequency|RF]] amplifiers and [[transmitter]]s. While proponents of vacuum tubes claim their superiority in areas such as [[high-end audio|high-end]] and [[professional audio]] applications, the solid-state MOSFET has similar performance characteristics.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tubes Versus Solid-State Audio Amps—The Last Word (Or "House Of Fire," Part 2) |url=https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/analog/article/21794430/tubes-versus-solidstate-audio-ampsthe-last-word-or-house-of-fire-part-2 |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=www.electronicdesign.com|date=30 November 2011 }}</ref>